.:Book/Movie Reviews:.

THEM! Released in 1954 is a sci-fi horror movie. What do you get when radiation hits ants in the desert? You get THEM! Large ants terrorizing humanity! The effects in this movie are outstanding. The puppet and practical effects make the movie. None of that fake CGI stuff here. All real props the way things should be as much as possible.

The story is very simple. Investigate, Research, and Fight! There are some very funny points in the movie (not because it’s an old movie) that are done for the sake of comedy. Good laughs, good effects and the movie appears in Disney’s Lilo and Stitch 2 briefly for those wondering what they were watching.

All in all I don’t want to spoil to much of the film. The plot isn’t very deep it’s right to the point and you are off on a giant ant killing spree! The sound effects are interesting as well and for some reason I’ve noticed with other movies of the time fire seems to solve all problems…

Till next time get out the popcorn and watch THEM!

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The movie of the day is the 1959 classic Journey to the Center of the Earth released in 1959. Based on the book by Jules Verne. The plot is very simple and slow moving it follows a professor and his colleagues on a chase to go where no man has gone before. The movie takes quite some time to get moving and you are not treated to any interesting scenery until about just past the halfway mark.

Some of the gear is what we today call “Steampunk” but by the standards then very sci-fi looking. Characters are rather uninteresting and it’s hard to develop any rapport with them or care about them in any way.

Some of the matte painting is absolutely outstanding as shown below. Special effects at the time I’m sure were amazing. Nothing like taking a dinosaur fin and gluing it to the back of a iguana!

When it comes to book to movie adaptations I have to say stick to the book on this one. Your imagination can do so much more than this movie ever could.

Overall though the quality of the reproduction in 1080p is outstanding and looks and sounds out of this world. By far the best version I’ve ever seen having seen this on VHS and DVD they don’t hold a candle to the digital restoration that is the Blu-Ray copy.

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